This document provides guidelines for a coursework portfolio assessment in a Fundamentals of Psychology module. Students must complete three 500-word articles, one on each of the module's main areas: developmental psychology, abnormal psychology, and cognitive psychology. The articles should focus on empirical research from published studies and clearly link the research to existing theories covered in the module lectures. Students are instructed on how to select relevant research articles, write the reports in a popular science style, reference the sources, and submit the portfolio by the deadline through Turnitin.

1. Coursework Supplementary
UNDERGRADUATE
Instruction
Dr Simon Bignell – Module Leader
Spring 2012
Simon Bignell Fundamentals of Psychology 2 1
(4PS038)
Psychology, School of Science 15

2. Coursework
• Assessment is 100 percent coursework. A portfolio of three articles.
• Coursework Portfolio Deadline: 5pm on 8th May 2012.
UNDERGRADUATE
• For this coursework students must complete one 500-word article on
each of the three main areas from the module:-
– Developmental Psychology.
– Abnormal Psychology.
– Cognitive Psychology.
• The articles must focus on empirical work from published research and
show clearly how this research links with existing theory on a specific
subject from the module.
• Links are provided on the module web pages to example articles from
previous students’ work and examples of popular science publications
(e.g. New Scientist, The Psychologist).
Simon Bignell Fundamentals of Psychology 2 2
(4PS038)
Psychology, School of Science 15

3. Please read the guidelines on
Blackboard and the Forum.
• You produce three 500-word articles/reports on each of the three main module areas.
• You need to select, read and report a journal article of your choice from each of the three
areas/units linking what the researchers did to the theory from the specific lecture.
• Read the examples on Blackboard to pick up the style of writing required.
• Think about what topics you are interested in from each of the sections (Developmental,
Abnormal, Cognitive).
• Select 3 appropriate journal articles (or use the provided ones) and read them in full.
• Produce a 500 word report on each. Focus on empirical work from published research and
show clearly how this research links with existing theory on a specific topic from the
module. You might want to report:
– Why they looked at the area they did.
– What they did in the experiment or study.
– What they found and how they interpreted their results.
– How this study links to the theory in a specific lecture from the module.
Write 3 x 500 Word
Read the Find &
Reports on Them
Guidelines on Read 3
Linking to the Theory
Blackboard Journal
from the Module
Articles

4. Coursework
Portfolio of three articles
• You must complete one 500-word article on each of the three
main areas from the module.
UNDERGRADUATE
• Aimed at an educated audience on student-selected topics from
the module (or you can use the provided articles).
• The articles must focus on empirical work from published
research and show clearly how this research links with existing
theory on a specific subject from the module.
• Links are provided on the module web pages to example articles
from popular science publications, which you should use as a
guide to the writing style (e.g. New Scientist, The Psychologist).
Simon Bignell Fundamentals of Psychology 2 4
(4PS038)
Psychology, School of Science 15

5. Coursework
Referencing
You don’t need to give a full reference section. But if you do
make in-text citations you should give the full reference.
References will quickly reduce your word count so avoid making lots
of citations. Do cite the original source journal (that you read).
UNDERGRADUATE
Give a single full APA reference at the end of each report for the
sources article OR make it absolutely clear in the text which
paper you are reporting. For example:
“New findings from Australian researchers at the Institute for
Psychological Research (IPR) indicates that memory is influenced
by how much television we watch. Reporting in the Journal of
Memory Research in 2009 John Smith and Peter Jones found that
the more TV you watch the worse your memory recall is. They
suggest that this finding could be a result of short-term memory
problems in…”
Simon Bignell Fundamentals of Psychology 2 5
(4PS038)
Psychology, School of Science 15

6. Coursework
Maximising you grade!
• Each article contributes one third of the
UNDERGRADUATE
available marks. The portfolio must consist of
all three articles.
• Marks will be awarded for:
– Explaining well the link between research and
theory.
– Clarity.
– Conciseness.
– Conveying understanding of the source material.
Simon Bignell Fundamentals of Psychology 2 6
(4PS038)
Psychology, School of Science 15

7. Coursework
Maximising you grade!
• Understand the Journal Articles you read.
UNDERGRADUATE
• Link the research to the theory from the lecture.
• Follow the guidelines and pick up the ‘magazine’
style of writing by checking the examples.
• Write for an educated audience who have some
but not an expert knowledge of Psychology.
• Submit all three reports on time using the
template.
Simon Bignell Fundamentals of Psychology 2 7
(4PS038)
Psychology, School of Science 15

8. Coursework
Maximising you grade!
• Read and understand the whole article but
UNDERGRADUATE
especially the Abstract and Conclusions.
• Don’t exceed the word limit!
• Reference the source journal article. Make it
clear we know what the article is.
• Make it interesting.
• Choose journal articles wisely. Don’t make it
hard for yourself.
• You don’t have to report the whole paper!
Simon Bignell Fundamentals of Psychology 2 8
(4PS038)
Psychology, School of Science 15

9. Coursework
Maximising you grade!
• Don’t Panic.
UNDERGRADUATE
– If you have genuine technical or non-
technical problems let us know.
• Realise that this style of writing is not used for
formal coursework essays or lab reports.
• Go For it! Convince us of your enthusiasm.
• Demonstrate your understanding.
• Draft, Improve and resubmit (up to the
deadline) if you need to.
Simon Bignell Fundamentals of Psychology 2 9
(4PS038)
Psychology, School of Science 15

10. Coursework Submission via
Turnitin
• Guidelines are on the module web pages on
Blackboard.
UNDERGRADUATE
• Please ensure that you have read the
Coursework Guidelines and have completed
your coursework using the Coursework
Submission Template.
• You can resubmit your work by uploading it
again anytime up until the deadline.
Simon Bignell Fundamentals of Psychology 2 10
(4PS038)
Psychology, School of Science 15

11. Coursework Submission via Turnitin
• Guide to Turnitin:
http://psychology.derby.ac.uk/~steve/resources/turnitin.html
• Submit your coursework using the ‘Coursework
UNDERGRADUATE
Submission Template’ (.doc) download from Blackboard.
Simon Bignell Fundamentals of Psychology 2 11
(4PS038)
Psychology, School of Science 15

12. Coursework Submission via Turnitin
• Enter your name
(Surname, First Name)
UNDERGRADUATE
• Enter your student
number.
•Enter your Unimail email
address.
•Save the file as a Word
(.doc) with the file name
‘SurnameFirstname’.
Simon Bignell Fundamentals of Psychology 2 12
(4PS038)
Psychology, School of Science 15

13. Coursework Submission via Turnitin
• On each page (Unit
1, 2 and 3):
UNDERGRADUATE
• Enter the lecture to
which your report
relates.
• Give your article a
title. Your choice.
• Word process the
report then paste in
the text (small font).
Simon Bignell Fundamentals of Psychology 2 13
(4PS038)
Psychology, School of Science 15

14. Coursework Submission via Turnitin
• Submit you work using a single Word (.doc) file
once only to your Seminar Group (do not
submit .docx files).
UNDERGRADUATE
• If you have an EEC/ECF deadline extension or a
Student Support Plan that will influence the
coursework submission please advise the
module leader as soon as possible.
• Just submit text. Don’t use fancy formatting,
columns or pictures. We are only interested in
the text.
Simon Bignell Fundamentals of Psychology 2 14
(4PS038)
Psychology, School of Science 15

15. Coursework Submission via Turnitin
• Submit your Portfolio using the Coursework Template to
Turnitin via your normal UDO account. Log in and
submit in the usual way using the Blackboard link.
UNDERGRADUATE
• The ‘Preview’ you see when uploading your work is a
‘text only’ version.
– The markers do receive the formatted version.
• Please retain the digital receipt of your coursework
submission.
• Your module feedback will be return to you online via
Gradebook.
Simon Bignell Fundamentals of Psychology 2 15
(4PS038)
Psychology, School of Science 15